The Nordic School Run is an annual event and was first held in 1984. Every elementary school in Scandinavia can participate and Icelandic students have been taking part in big numbers. With this event the main reason is to encourage students to get excercise and thus aim for a better and healthier lifestyle. In the school run in 2007 the teachers at Giljaskoli in Akureyri, the Capital of the Northern part of Iceland, decided to raise funds to be able to financially support two ABC students. The fundraising has usually been in conjunction with the School Run but for the last two years the funds have been raised some time after the run has finished.

Students run 1 to 4 „school laps“ and each one is around 2.5 kilometers. Students and staff are encouraged to donate a small amount of money into collection trays and thanks to those donations it has been possible to sponsor two ABC students through their studies.

In 2007 Udaya Lakshmi Gajjelagunta and Vincent Obina enjoyed sponsorship courtesy of Giljaskoli. Udaya is from India and Vincent is from Uganda. Today they have finished their studies at the ABC schools and the students and staff now sponsor two new students; Venkateswaramma Ramma and Kevine Jenneth Akello and they are also from India and Uganda.

The students at Giljaskoli get an introduction of their sponsored fellow students from far away and their desire to continue the sponsorship every year is displayed by their large participation in each run and sizeable donations which always cover the cost of studies for the year. The ABC students always send Christmas cards and students at Giljaskoli do as well and also a package containing stationery for Venkateswaramma and Kevine.

This is certainly an annual run for the good and we thank the students and staff of Giljaskoli for the precious gift of an opportunity to build a good life through education.